Three major pandemic school policy differences between Europe and the United States.

The trans-Atlantic divide was large.

Europe and the United States — a messy continent linked by treaties and a huge federal republic — are both complicated places, so it’s very difficult to talk about “European” or “American” approaches to reopening schools. I want to highlight three major differences, which I think were themes across the respective places. Yes, of course, there are exceptions.

1. European countries were willing to reopen schools pre-vaccine and many U.S. states and cities were not. For example, Nordic and continental European countries partially and fully reopened schools in April and May 2020. Even Texas, Florida, and Rhode Island didn’t reopen their schools until the start of the 2020–2021 academic year.
2. Virtual instruction was not treated as a legitimate replacement for the classroom in most European countries and so-called “remote options” were not offered when European schools were fully open. In-person learning was compulsory in Sweden even in spring 2020; in-person learning was compulsory in France throughout the 2020–2021 school year. In contrast, large U.S. school districts — for example, Atlanta and Los Angeles — are still providing remote options and will even offer them next school year.
3. A more surgical approach to mask mandates was deployed. For example, Iceland and the Netherlands briefly mandated masks in secondary schools, but only in…